Classics of Western Spirituality (series)

Rosie Perera
Rosie Perera Member Posts: 26,194 ✭✭✭✭✭
edited December 2024 in English Forum

I'd like to see the whole Classics of Western Spirituality series (Paulist Press). A few volumes are less of interest to Christians than others (e.g., Early Islamic Mysticism), but the whole set would make a great bundle. Useful for those studying church history, spiritual theology, and in some cases homiletics or biblical studies as some of these volumes contain sermons.

I've marked what I think are probably the most important ones with an asterisk (*).

Abraham Isaac Kook: The Lights of Penitence, The Moral Principles, Lights of Holiness, Essays, Letters, and Poems

Abraham Miguel Cardozo: Selected Writings

Albert and Thomas: Selected Writings

Alphonsus de Liguori: Selected Writings

*Anchoritic Spirituality: Ancrene Wisse and Associated Works

Angela of Foligno: Selected Writings

Angelic Spirituality: Medieval Perspectives on the Ways of Angels

Angelus Silesius: The Cherubinic Wanderer

*Anglo-Saxon Spirituality: Selected Writings

*Apocalyptic Spirituality

*Athanasius: The Life of Antony and The Letter to Marcellinus

*Augustine of Hippo: Selected Writings

*Bernard of Clairvaux: Selected Works

Bérulle and the French School: Selected Writings

Birgitta of Sweden: Life and Selected Writings

*Bonaventure: The Soul's Journey into God, The Tree of Life, The Life of St. Francis

Cambridge Platonist Spirituality

Carthusian Spirituality: The Writings of Hugh of Balma and Guigo de Ponte

*Catherine of Genoa: Purgation and Purgatory, The Spiritual Dialogue

*Catherine of Siena: The Dialogue

*Celtic Spirituality

*Classic Midrash, The: Tannaitic Commentaries on the Bible

Devotio Moderna: Basic Writings

*Early Anabaptist Spirituality: Selected Writings

*Early Dominicans: Selected Writings

*The Early Kabbalah

Early Islamic Mysticism: Sufi, Qur'an, Mi'raj, Poetic and Theological Writings

Elijah Benamozegh: Israel and Humanity

Elisabeth of Schonau: The Complete Works

*Emanuel Swedenborg: The Universal Human and Soul-Body Interaction

*Ephrem the Syrian: Hymns

Fakhruddin Iraqi: Divine Flashes

*Francis and Clare: The Complete Works

*Francis de Sales, Jane de Chantal: Letters of Spiritual Direction

*Francisco de Osuna: The Third Spiritual Alphabet

*George Herbert: The Country Parson and the Temple

*The Germanica of Martin Luther

Gertrude of Helfta: The Herald of Divine Love

*Gregory of Nyssa: The Life of Moses

*Gregory Palamas: The Triads

*Hadewijch: The Complete Works

*Henry Suso: The Exemplar, with Two German Sermons

*Hildegard of Bingen: Scivias

Ibn ‘Abbad of Ronda: Letters on the Sufi Path

Ibn ‘Ata’ Illah/Kwaja Abdullah Ansari: The Book of Wisdom and Kwaja Abdullah Ansari, Intimate Conversations

Ibn Al’ Arabi: The Bezels of Wisdom

*Ignatius of Loyola: Spiritual Exercises and Selected Works

Isaiah Horowitz: The Generations of Adam

Jacob Boehme: The Way to Christ

Jacopone da Todi: Lauds

*Jean Gerson: Early Works

*Jeremy Taylor: Selected Works

Jewish Mystical Autobiographies: Book of Visions and Book of Secrets

*Johann Arndt: True Christianity

*Johannes Tauler: Sermons

*John and Charles Wesley: Selected Prayers, Hymns, Journal Notes, Sermons, Letters and Treatises

*John Baptist de La Salle: The Spirituality of Christian Education

*John Calvin: Writings on Pastoral Piety

*John Cassian: Conferences

*John Climacus: The Ladder of Divine Ascent

*John Comenius: The Labyrinth of the World and The Paradise of the Heart

*John Donne: Selections from Divine Poems, Sermons, Devotions and Prayers

*John Henry Newman: Selected Sermons

*John of the Cross: Selected Writings

*John Ruusbroec: The Spiritual Espousals, The Sparkling Stones, and Other Works

*Julian of Norwich: Showings

Knowledge of God in Classical Sufism: Foundations of Islamic Mystical Theology

*Luis de León: The Names of Christ

Margaret Ebner: Major Works

*Marguerite Porete: The Mirror of Simple Souls

Maria Maddalena de' Pazzi: Selected Revelations

*Maximus the Confessor: Selected Writings

*Mechthild of Magdeburg: The Flowing Light of the Godhead

*Meister Eckhart: Teacher and Preacher

*Meister Eckhart: The Essential Sermons, Commentaries, Treatises and Defense

Menahem Nahum of Chernobyl: Upright Practices, The Light of the Eyes

Nahman of Bratslav: The Tales

Native Meso-American Spirituality

Native North American Spirituality of the Eastern Woodlands: Sacred Myths, Dreams, Visions, Speeches, Healing Formulas, Rituals

*Nicholas of Cusa: Selected Spiritual Writings

Nicodemos of the Holy Mountain: A Handbook of Spiritual Counsel

Nil Sorsky: The Complete Writings

Nizam Ad-Din Awliya: Morals for the Heart

*Origen: Selected Writings

*Philo of Alexandria: The Contemplative Life, Giants and Selections

*The Pietists: Selected Writings

*Pseudo Dionysius: The Complete Works

*Pseudo-Macarius: The Fifty Spiritual Homilies and The Great Letter

*Quaker Spirituality: Selected Writings

Rabbinic Stories

*Richard of St. Victor: The Book of the Patriarchs, The Mystical Ark, Book Three of the Trinity

*Richard Rolle: The English Works

*Robert Bellarmine: Spiritual Writings

Safed Spirituality: Rules of Mystical Piety, The Beginning of Wisdom

*Shakers, The: Two Centuries of Spiritual Reflection

Sharafuddin Maneri: The Hundred Letters

*Symeon the New Theologian: The Discourses

*The Talmud: Selected Writings

*Teresa of Avila: The Interior Castle

The Pilgrim's Tale

The Pursuit of Wisdom and Other Works by the Author of the Cloud of Unknowing

The Spirituality of the German Awakening

Theatine Spirituality: Selected Writings

Umar Ibn al-Farid: Sufi Verse, Saintly Life

Valentin Weigel: Selected Spiritual Writings

Vincent de Paul and Louise de Marillac: Rules, Conferences, and Writings

*Walter Hilton: The Scale of Perfection

*William Law: A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life, The Spirit of Love

Zohar: The Book of Enlightenment

Comments

  • T MacLeod
    T MacLeod Member Posts: 112 ✭✭

    That would be an INCREDIBLE addition!

  • MJ. Smith
    MJ. Smith MVP Posts: 54,787

    A few volumes are less of interest to Christians than others (e.g., Early Islamic Mysticism),

    Excellent suggestion - I have the first 80 or so in spine and page versions.  But why is Early Islamic Mysticism of less interest? Don't you want to trace its influence on Gregory Palamas and his influence on Byzantine/Slavic theology?[:D]

    Orthodox Bishop Alfeyev: "To be a theologian means to have experience of a personal encounter with God through prayer and worship."; Orthodox proverb: "We know where the Church is, we do not know where it is not."

  • George Somsel
    George Somsel Member Posts: 10,153 ✭✭✭

    MJ. Smith said:

    Excellent suggestion - I have the first 80 or so in spine and page versions.  But why is Early Islamic Mysticism of less interest? Don't you want to trace its influence on Gregory Palamas and his influence on Byzantine/Slavic theology?Big Smile

    Whoa !  You lost me there.  I'm obviously way out of my depth.  Throw me a life preserver [:S]

    george
    gfsomsel

    יְמֵי־שְׁנוֹתֵינוּ בָהֶם שִׁבְעִים שָׁנָה וְאִם בִּגְבוּרֹת שְׁמוֹנִים שָׁנָה וְרָהְבָּם עָמָל וָאָוֶן

  • Matthew C Jones
    Matthew C Jones Member Posts: 10,295 ✭✭✭

    This would be nice. [Y]

     I have broader interests than just the spiritual. (That probably explains a lot that is wrong with me.) I have had the Harvard Classics on Pre-Pub order for 20 months now. I suggested Britannica's Great Books and would welcome this series too. It stands a lot better chance making production than the big sets like Harvard's LOEB Classics Library. "So many books, so little time."

    My hero Erasmus had it wrong. He said, "When I have a little money, I buy books. If any is left over, I buy food and clothes."

    He should have said, “When I have a little money, I buy books. If any is left over, I buy more books.”

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  • Rosie Perera
    Rosie Perera Member Posts: 26,194 ✭✭✭✭✭

    MJ. Smith said:

    A few volumes are less of interest to Christians than others (e.g., Early Islamic Mysticism),

    Excellent suggestion - I have the first 80 or so in spine and page versions.  But why is Early Islamic Mysticism of less interest? Don't you want to trace its influence on Gregory Palamas and his influence on Byzantine/Slavic theology?Big Smile

    Wow! You've got me beat. I only have four of them:

    • Bernard of Clairvaux
    • Celtic Spirituality
    • Early Anabaptist Spirituality
    • Johann Arndt: True Christianity 

    I have broader interests than just the spiritual. (That probably explains a lot that is wrong with me.) I have ... the Harvard Classics on Pre-Pub order ....

    Ditto.

    My hero Erasmus had it wrong. He said, "When I have a little money, I buy books. If any is left over, I buy food and clothes."

    He should have said, “When I have a little money, I buy books. If any is left over, I buy more books.”

    I love this quote and at one point made a poster of it to post on the side of one of my bookcases, which faced people as they came into my apartment:

    "Those who aspire to the status of cultured individuals visit bookstores with trepidation, overwhelmed by the immensity of all they have not read.  They buy something that they've been told is good, make an unsuccessful attempt to read it, and when they have accumulated half a dozen unread books, feel so bad that they are afraid to buy more.  In contrast, the truly cultured are capable of owning thousands of unread books without losing their composure or their desire for more." (Gabriel Zaid, So Many Books: Reading and Publishing in an Age of Abundance

  • George Somsel
    George Somsel Member Posts: 10,153 ✭✭✭

    "Those who aspire to the status of cultured individuals visit bookstores with trepidation, overwhelmed by the immensity of all they have not read.  They buy something that they've been told is good, make an unsuccessful attempt to read it, and when they have accumulated half a dozen unread books, feel so bad that they are afraid to buy more.  In contrast, the truly cultured are capable of owning thousands of unread books without losing their composure or their desire for more." (Gabriel Zaid, So Many Books: Reading and Publishing in an Age of Abundance

    Ha ha!  I guess that describes me.  I have at least 3-4 unread books in my library  [H].  Wanna buy a bridge?  I find that L4 makes it easier for me to read some of the books I have which I never got around to before since I can float them and when I close them it's about like putting a bookmark in them.  That's one thing that is a definite improvement in L4.  Now if they would only get around to notes and morph searching.

    george
    gfsomsel

    יְמֵי־שְׁנוֹתֵינוּ בָהֶם שִׁבְעִים שָׁנָה וְאִם בִּגְבוּרֹת שְׁמוֹנִים שָׁנָה וְרָהְבָּם עָמָל וָאָוֶן

  • Rosie Perera
    Rosie Perera Member Posts: 26,194 ✭✭✭✭✭


    Ha ha!  I guess that describes me.  I have at least 3-4 unread books in my library  Cool

    Do you mean 3-4 thousand? ;-)  I have approximately 1854 unread books in my dead-tree library, though that number might be off by a few as I don't always remember to remove the "1" in the "To Read" column in Excel where I keep my book inventory after reading each book. Also, there are some books that are on the fuzzy edge between whether I'd put a 1 or not when I buy them. Reference books definitely don't get a 1 since I don't plan to ever read them. Novels definitely get a 1. But a collection of poetry might or might not be something I'd ever read straight through. It might be just to dip into once in a while. Anyway, it's easy for me to tell at a glance how many books I still want to read in my lifetime (at least of the ones I own already). I just look at the sum of the "To Read" column. It's depressing sometimes, since I know I'll never read them all. But it gives me something to strive for. And I trust we'll be able to go on reading into eternity (an eternity without reading wouldn't be heaven to me), so I'm not desparing. ;-)

  • George Somsel
    George Somsel Member Posts: 10,153 ✭✭✭

    Novels definitely get a 1.

    You actually buy novels?  The only novels I ever buy are absolute classics.  Otherwise I get them from the library.  After I've read them, I don't care to have them hanging around.

    george
    gfsomsel

    יְמֵי־שְׁנוֹתֵינוּ בָהֶם שִׁבְעִים שָׁנָה וְאִם בִּגְבוּרֹת שְׁמוֹנִים שָׁנָה וְרָהְבָּם עָמָל וָאָוֶן

  • MJ. Smith
    MJ. Smith MVP Posts: 54,787

    You actually buy novels?

    Rarely ... I prefer to be given them to review[:P]

    Orthodox Bishop Alfeyev: "To be a theologian means to have experience of a personal encounter with God through prayer and worship."; Orthodox proverb: "We know where the Church is, we do not know where it is not."

  • MJ. Smith
    MJ. Smith MVP Posts: 54,787

    Wow! You've got me beat. I only have four of them:

    I signed up for them by subscription when they expected the series to end in ten years. A paperwork snafu semi-cancelled the subscription and I switched to purchasing individual volumes as my job was requiring much more time. I'm so glad to not have work inferring with reading.

    Orthodox Bishop Alfeyev: "To be a theologian means to have experience of a personal encounter with God through prayer and worship."; Orthodox proverb: "We know where the Church is, we do not know where it is not."

  • Matthew C Jones
    Matthew C Jones Member Posts: 10,295 ✭✭✭

    the truly cultured are capable of owning thousands of unread books without losing their composure or their desire for more.

    I imagine everybody here has downloaded this FREE book from Logos:

    The Love Affairs Of A Bibliomaniac - Eugene Field

    http://www.logos.com/ebooks/details/labfield 

    It is another good one. (I think I got it in hardback in the Book-Of-The-Month Club when it was first printed.)

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  • Rosie Perera
    Rosie Perera Member Posts: 26,194 ✭✭✭✭✭


    Novels definitely get a 1.

    You actually buy novels?  The only novels I ever buy are absolute classics.  Otherwise I get them from the library.  After I've read them, I don't care to have them hanging around.


    The only novels I read are absolute classics. I generally don't waste my time reading novels unless they are the type I would want to keep afterwards, either to reread someday or to have in my bookshelves for reference in my writing, or so people who come over to my house can see how well-read I am[:)]. My definition of what is an "absolute classic" might be broader than yours, though. It's not just the "Great Books" -- what I consider "absolute classics" includes such things as Walter Wangerin's The Book of the Dun Cow, Alan Paton's Cry the Beloved Country, and Chaim Potok's The Chosen.

  • Rosie Perera
    Rosie Perera Member Posts: 26,194 ✭✭✭✭✭


    I imagine everybody here has downloaded this FREE book from Logos:

    The Love Affairs Of A Bibliomaniac - Eugene Field

    http://www.logos.com/ebooks/details/labfield 

    I hadn't before, but now I have. Thanks for the heads up! I also discovered while I was over there that you can now browse and sort all downloadable books by author, price, title, etc. Thus sorting by price (lowest to highest), I found other free ones. The Scripture Alphabet of Animals was the only freebie I didn't have which I thought might be good, so I got that. Still waiting for the whole order to download (I threw a few other titles in there too). It's been at 98% complete for a loooooong time.

  • tom
    tom Member Posts: 3,213 ✭✭✭

    I'd like to see the whole Classics of Western Spirituality series (Paulist Press)

    [y]

    Hi Rosie,

    I just order my first book in this series.  I was going to recommend this series until I notice that you had already recommended it.

  • Rosie Perera
    Rosie Perera Member Posts: 26,194 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I'd like to see the whole Classics of Western Spirituality series (Paulist Press)

    Yes

    Hi Rosie,

    I just order my first book in this series.  I was going to recommend this series until I notice that you had already recommended it.

    No harm in recommending it twice. Actually, if you send an email to suggest@logos.com it will most likely go into their database of recommended works if my posting it here didn't get it in there in the first place. Sometimes they overlook the suggestions threads, but the emails do always get looked at. Adding thumbs up here on these threads helps encourage the person who suggested a work in the first place, but I don't think it gives it more weight on the Logos end. It would be really great to get this series in Logos.

  • Rosie Perera
    Rosie Perera Member Posts: 26,194 ✭✭✭✭✭
  • George Somsel
    George Somsel Member Posts: 10,153 ✭✭✭

    Another of those humongous collections that only Rosie can afford.

    george
    gfsomsel

    יְמֵי־שְׁנוֹתֵינוּ בָהֶם שִׁבְעִים שָׁנָה וְאִם בִּגְבוּרֹת שְׁמוֹנִים שָׁנָה וְרָהְבָּם עָמָל וָאָוֶן

  • Bruce Dunning
    Bruce Dunning MVP Posts: 11,149

    Another of those humongous collections that only Rosie can afford.

    It is certainly a lot of money. [:S]

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  • tom
    tom Member Posts: 3,213 ✭✭✭

    Another of those humongous collections that only Rosie can afford.

    It is certainly a lot of money. Tongue Tied

    Way out of my price range :(  

    I am wondering why don't they just make smaller collections.

  • MJ. Smith
    MJ. Smith MVP Posts: 54,787

    Orthodox Bishop Alfeyev: "To be a theologian means to have experience of a personal encounter with God through prayer and worship."; Orthodox proverb: "We know where the Church is, we do not know where it is not."